Head of Data

**To join our Sonae Data Team at the Holding Office, we are currently looking for a**:
**Head of Data & Analytics**

**Sonae Data**is a brand-new unit within the Sonae group, bringing together data from across the group’s diverse businesses—think supermarkets, electronics, financial services, telecom, shopping centers, and digital platforms. The goal? To turn this data into valuable products and services, first for the group’s own companies, and later for the broader digital and AI-driven market.

We’re looking for a **Head of Data & Analytics** to help lead this journey. You’ll work closely with the tech team to build everything from the ground up—shaping the vision for data products, leading data science and analytics teams, and turning business challenges into scalable, impactful solutions.

**Core Responsibilities**:

- Define and own the roadmap for data products, analytics solutions, and AI-driven services that address key business challenges.
- Collaborate with stakeholders across multiple industries (retail, telecom, finance, etc.) to identify high-value use cases.

**Data Science & Analytics Leadership**
- Lead the design and development of predictive models, machine learning algorithms, and advanced analytics to extract actionable insights.
- Implement best practices for experimentation, model validation, and performance monitoring to ensure robust, reliable solutions.

**Business Engagement & Use-Case Discovery**
- Partner with business units to understand their challenges, translate them into data-driven opportunities, and shape solutions that deliver tangible ROI.
- Advocate for data-driven decision-making, championing the use of analytics across the organization.

**Data Product Development**
- Oversee the end-to-end lifecycle of data products, from ideation to deployment and ongoing refinement.
- Ensure products are scalable, secure, and designed for broad adoption, both within the group and in external markets.

**Collaboration with Technology Teams**
- Work closely with the Head of Data & Analytics Technology to ensure alignment between product strategy, technical architecture, and data governance frameworks.
- Coordinate with data engineering teams to optimize data pipelines, storage, and integration for analytics use cases.

**Team Building & Management**
- Recruit, mentor, and lead a multidisciplinary team of data scientists, analytics professionals, and product managers.
- Foster a culture of innovation, continuous learning, and cross-functional collaboration.
- Translate complex analytical findings into clear, compelling narratives for both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Present insights, results, and recommendations to executive leadership and other key stakeholders.
- Stay abreast of the latest developments in AI, machine learning, and data science tools and methodologies.
- Drive ongoing improvements to analytical processes, models, and products, maintaining a competitive edge.

**Main requirements**:
**Education**
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Engineering, Business Analytics, or a related field.

**Technical Proficiency**
- Proven track record in data science, predictive modeling, and machine learning.
- Familiarity with modern analytics and AI frameworks (e.g., DataBriks, Python, R, TensorFlow, PyTorch) and cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP).

**Industry Knowledge**
- Understanding of data privacy, compliance, and anonymization strategies for multi-business-unit data sharing.

**Leadership Experience**
- 7+ years of experience in analytics or data science roles, with at least 2 years in a managerial capacity.
- Demonstrated ability to build, coach, and lead high-performing teams.

**Business Acumen**
- Ability to translate business objectives into analytics solutions and articulate the value proposition of data-driven initiatives.
- Experience in prioritizing projects based on ROI, strategic impact, and feasibility.

**Communication & Storytelling**
- Strong presentation and storytelling skills, capable of conveying complex insights in an engaging, actionable way.
- Proven experience interfacing with executive leadership and cross-functional teams.
- Comfortable in self-funded start-up-like environment, with a “can-do” attitude and a willingness to experiment.
- Track record of successfully launching data products or services from scratch.

**Work Location**:

- Role based in Oporto (preferably) or Lisbon
- If based in Lisbon, regular travel to the Oporto headquarters will be required.

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